Sugar bowl, ca. 1738–45
Made in New York City
Silver, 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 in. (11.9 x 11.9 cm)
Mabel Brady Garvan Collection
1930.1056
Tea drinking in the eighteenth century demanded elaborate equipment, including sugar bowls like this one, with its distinctive cover modeled after a Chinese porcelain covered rice bowl. The work of Huguenot silversmith Simeon Soumain, this Queen Anne-style vessel indicates a wealthy owner, who spent large sums on luxury objects for the tea table. The bowl relies primarily on its perfectly round form for its aesthetic impact. The engraved cipher is for Elizabeth Harris (d. 1760), who married Henry Cruger at Legnaum, Jamaica, in 1736. According to Cruger's diary, he and his family arrived in New York from Jamaica on May 31, 1738.
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